Discussing setting up Windows on an empty hard disk.
Discussing setting up Windows on an empty hard disk.
I plan to assemble the new computer in a day or so once the case arrives. I’ll be installing Windows 8 on a bare drive, but I have a few questions. Will the Windows installation automatically format the HDD to NTFS, or will I need to do that myself before anything else? Also, just for your interest: CPU i7-4790k, cooler Seidon 240M, GPU MSI Gaming 8G R9 390, RAM HyperX 2x8GB @1866MHz, motherboard Gigabyte Z97MX-Gaming, PSU CX750M.
Windows locates the drive and handles everything automatically. Remember to add EFI-style for optimal performance.
Windows includes native tools for formatting and managing partitions.
Hard to explain quickly, here's a quick sum up. You boot and resume from sleep/hibernate faster. You see your mobo's manufacturer logo instead of the Windows logo at boot. You see an EFI partition in disk management instead of an NTFS one. That's about it. It costs you about 5 seconds extra when setting up Windows so it's definitely worth your time.
Explore the guide on creating a UFI bootable USB flash drive for Windows on EightForums.
You're asking about the difference between installing a PC and using UEFI. Essentially, it refers to how the operating system boots up—whether it uses the traditional Windows logo or the Dell/Lenovo UEFI branding. "Native UEFI" means the system is set up to use the UEFI firmware directly, which is common for modern laptops from those manufacturers.